


The Bells of Konoha

by SaintedStars



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) Fusion, Baby Uzumaki Naruto, Churches & Cathedrals, Curse Mark, Hatake Kakashi Is Trying, Heroes to Villains, Inspired by Notre-Dame de Paris | The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Konoha Village is a very strange place, Konohagakure | Hidden Leaf Village, Period-Typical Racism, Priests, Protective Uchiha Itachi, Singing, Song: The Bells of Notre Dame, Songfic, Time Travel, Uchiha Itachi Being a Good Brother, Uchiha Sasuke Has Issues, destruction of property, self-destructive behaviour
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:55:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23466502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaintedStars/pseuds/SaintedStars
Summary: What makes a monster and what makes a man?This is the question that all must ask.In the middle of the village, a man plays out a story that takes place in the past of the village involving the plight of two brothers who, at one point, lived and loved inside the halls of the church.
Kudos: 6





	The Bells of Konoha

The air of the morning where our tale begins was clean and sweet, chorused by the sound of chatter and feet treading the stones of the streets and jumping between the roofs of houses. Though the day was barely new, already crowds were gathering in the marketplace and watching the entertainers, bringing joy to those whose ears their music could reach. One particular favourite was what drew the attention of the children, whose parents saw no danger in leaving them to watch the show being put on by the strange silver-headed man. Clad in a mask covering the lower half of his face and his left eye covered by an eyepatch that made a few of the more timid children wary of approaching, he gestured one and all closer with the little wiggling movements of his hand-puppet, a miniature version of himself with stitched features and a high-pitched squeak of a voice.

Lording above them, carved into the mountain that surrounded the village, were the faces of their grand leaders, the Hokage. Lord Senju Hashirama and his brother Lord Senju Tobirama, their student Lord Sarutobi HIruzen, the Yellow Flash Minato Namikaze and, finally, the grandaughter of the First, Tsunade. It was under these wise figures that the village had been built and led and it was thanks to them that the village was able to prosper so. All those who were born, lived and died in the village had the hokage to thank for the lives that they were able to lead and they were certain to pay these figures, who's stone faces seemed larger than life, their respects.

The man and his puppet, standing inside his small cloth tent painted with purples and greens designed to catch the eye, was no different as he began to say.

_“Morning in the village the people awake,_

_To the Bells of Konoha._

_The fisherman fishes, the baker man bakes_

_To the Bells of Konoha.”_

Gestured to the side where a bell tower was counting down the minutes until the next ring would declare the hour. At his wave, the bells sounded, chiming along as if to give music to the man's words.

_“To the big bells as loud as the thunder!”_ The man raised his voice, clenching his fist tightly towards the heavens.

_“To the little bells soft as a Psalm...”_ Seeing a small girl looking at him with fright, he relaxed and waved her over with a gentle expression showing on what little amount of his face that he could see.

_“And some say the soul of the city's the toll_

_Of the bells, the Bells of Konoha.”_ The girl didn't look convinced and get her distance still. Undeterred, the man continued to sing. As he did, you could have sworn that there were other voices joining in, voices that were coming from the stone faces above.

_“Long years ago did this story begin_

_In this place called Konoha...”_

As the story unfolded thanks to the man's words, it seemed that history around them was revealing itself around them. The image of a misty night came into being, broken only by the sound of a baby's cries and the soft sniffles of a younger boy who was holding onto the sobbing bundle. Above them was looming an immense form of a temple, the shadow keeping the older boy from entering. A figure wrapped in robes came out, having heard the baby's cries, their figure illuminated by the lantern that they were carrying. They caught sight of the boy and beckoned them over, showing that they meant no harm.

_“Two orphan brothers were both taken in_

_By the grace of Konoha!”_

The boys were tentative but after a warm meal and a night in soft beds, resting side by side, the older of the brothers accepted the extended offer to stay and learn. It was better than the alternative of spending what little of their lives they had on the streets.

The puppeteer put his own puppet aside to present his rapt audience with two more, modeled after the two brothers in the story and gestured with them.

_“Itachi, the older, who cared for his brother...”_

The girl, charmed by the handsome toys, crept closer.

_“Young Sasuke, full of beauty and charm...”_

The puppeteer reached out with both puppets and had them gesture for her to come closer so she could see better.

_“And they lived and they grew-”_

_“And awoke to the music of bells!”_

The children chimed in, learning the words quickly.

_“The Bells of Konoha!”_

Off in the distance, the bells sounded again and a chanting chorus called out, beginning their morning walk through the city.

_“KYRIE ELEISON!”_

The children, frightened, huddled in closer to the puppeeter, wanting to hear more of the story. In a deep voice, the man in the tent continued, gesturing with the Itachi puppet, pretending that it was talking to the other.

_“Oh dear brother meet these arches_

_And this sacred dome!”_

_“KYRIE ELEISON!”_ The chorus called out their chant again.

_“We are blessed to find our sanctuary_

_And our home...”_ In the annuals of the history, the boys stood underneath the real church arches, Itachi looking elated at their luck but Sasuke appeared more sceptical.

_“Righteous Uchiha Itachi was ever more drawn_

_Like a son to Konoha!”_

Under the teachings of the bishops and priests who trod the stones of the church, Itachi flourished. He absorbed every lesson, every book that he got his hands on, all of it was stuck into his brain.

_“Not like his profligate brother, Sasuke_

_Who'd have none of Konoha..._

Sasuke, on a tragic other hand, preferred to spend his time walking amongst the people or by himself, learning only what he felt was needed, much to his brother's dismay.

_“Though as brothers they loved one another_

_Itachi watched in despair and alarm...”_

From a window in his study, Itachi was able to watch these goings on and his heart broke with each glimpse he caught. It didn't stop there either. Soon his brother began consorting with the seedier side of the village, taking in knowledge that sought to poison his mind and warp his presence.

_“As Sasuke grew more wild and defied and defiled_

_All the laws, the laws of Konoha!”_

Itachi took refuge in the sacred scripture, trying in vain to find a reason for his younger brother's fall. He spent many nights in silent, desperate, prayer for someone to hear him and give him an answer or a solution.

Anything that might save his brother from his descent into evil.

No voices came and Itachi despaired.

_“KYRIE ELEISON...”_ This time, the chant was tinged with sadness.

Finally, it all came to a head when it came to light that Sasuke had been experimenting with some unsavoury methods. Rather than pursue the same lofty heights as his brother through furthering his education, Sasuke had descended into the unwashed masses and squandered the resources that he had been gifted with. Gypsies, travellers, beggars, dancers, thieves and all the rest, Sasuke’s soul had become tainted in the eyes of the Church and when he refused to repent, Father Homura’s hand was forced.

_“You must leave, Sasuke this holy refuge where you've dwelled.”_ Itachi, desperate to save his brother from being sent away, spoke up.

_“Leave? But Father—"_ He tried to say but was cut off.

_“Sorry Itachi, but I've no choice your brother is expelled.”_

_“And Itachi didn't hear from his brother for several years.”_ The puppeteer explained, having the full attention of the children now that the procession had disappeared.

_“Meanwhile,_

_Itachi ascended uncommonly fast through the_

_Ranks of Konoha_

_Till he was named the Archdeacon at last_

_And gave thanks to Konoha!”_

When he had retired from giving his thankful prayers for his ascension, Itachi returned to his room to find a crow waiting for him. A very familiar crow bearing a familiar name on the message tied to its leg.

_“And then one doleful day brought a message_

_And the name that it bore was “Sasuke”_

_And concealing his face Itachi stole to a place_

_Far away...away from Konoha!”_

When Itachi finally found his brother, he was horrified to see what he had become. His skin was tinged with grey, his hair had grown longer and dark blue as opposed to the deep black that Itachi remembered, a hideous mark in the shape of a star rested on his nose and his eyes had become a fiendish shade of red, bright enough for Itachi to make out his appearance even in the dead of night. But what was worse was the appendages that had sprung from his brother’s back. Two enormous, webbed hands the same shade as his skin protruded from his back like some great mockery of an angel’s wings. But these did not belong to a being of heaven. These were the mark of a demon, a cursed being, one unfit to live amongst society.

“Sasuke, let me take you back. I’ll bring you home.”

_“Brother dearest, come with me_

_Where we will find a remedy_

_And Konoha once more will be your sanctuary_

_Healing you will be my goal_

_Not just your body, but your soul_

_we'll be together in our holy sanctuary…”_ Itachi insisted but he was reluctant to approach the creature that his brother had become.

“Enough, brother! It’s too late for me anyway. But if you've truly discovered charity at this late date, there's someone you can help.” Sasuke insisted, his hair bristling.

For the first time since he had seen his brother, Itachi realised that he was holding something. In Sasuke’s arms, there was a bundle of rags that was stirring, making soft whimpers. Approaching, Itachi was horrified to see what was inside.

_“A baby? Yours?”_ Sasuke, for once resembling the young man that Itachi had last seen him as, gave him a reproachful look that meant no. Looking around, he realised they were standing the wreckage of a building. Slowly, he began to put the pieces together.

_“Oh…a monster! It’s God’s judgement on you!”_ Sasuke must have been out in this hideous form and destroyed the building and killed this infant’s parents!

_“The wicked shall not go unpunished!”_ He declared, the baby making a distressed whimper.

_“I should have known! I was a fool to think that you would look after him!”_ Sasuke scoffed, holding the child with a surprisingly tender hold.

_“Look after him? Me?”_ Truly his brother had finally lost what remained of his mind.

_“He has nobody else!_

_Take him…if you can find it in your heart.”_ Sasuke insisted, holding out the bundle and forced his brother to take it. Before Itachi could protest further, Sasuke had taken off, using those grotesque hands as wings to disappear into the night.

_“Sasuke? Sasuke?!”_ Itachi cried, the baby’s sobbing echoing into the darkness and terrifying him.

Above him, the stone faces of their leaders gazed down at him with disgust and repulsion in their carved eyes. Turning on his heel with the babe still in his arms, Itachi fled from the scene. In his head, the damning voices of the choir resounded through his head with all the judgement of the heavens.

_“DIES IRAE!”_

_“DIES ILLA!”_

_“SOLVET SAECLUM!”_

_“IN FAVILLA!”_

_“KYRIE ELEISON!”_

Eventually, he came to a halt, skidding in the cobblestones and he was able to take stock of where he was. To his horror, he found that he had come back. He was standing before the church where his life, his life and his brother’s life had begun all those years ago. The place where _Their_ eyes continued to gaze down at him.

_“And the Hokage regarded Itachi from their stone façade”_

_“KYRIE ELEISON…”_

_“And he felt their gaze as if it were the eyes of God…”_

“Oh Lord, you’ve sent me a test. This child is my cross to bear.

I may not have saved my brother, but I will save this…thing.” Looking down at the bundle, he got his first look at the child. There was a thin spray of blonde hair atop its head and, strangest of all, six whisker marks adorned its fat cheeks. These marks… Truly, these were the mark of a true demon.

A true monster!

_“See this lonesome creature from whom lesser men would flee_

_I will keep and care for him and teach him at my knee to think like me…”_ He swore, hoping that he would be heard and absolved.

_“And Itachi gave the child a name. A cruel name that means Maelstrom…”_ The puppeteer explained.

_“Naruto!”_ He declared, taking the sobbing child inside the church but spiriting him away into the rafters where the bells stood.

_“Now here is a riddle to guess if you can_

_Sing the Bells of Konoha!”_ The puppeteer asked his tiny audience, putting his puppets away and pointing towards that very same church.

_“What makes a monster and what makes a man?”_ He cried out, counting down to when the bells would cry out again. At his gesture, the sound of ringing bells boomed out.

_“Sing the Bells, Bells, Bells,_

_Bells, Bells, Bells, Bells, Bells_

_Bells of Konoha!”_ He declared and the voices of the Hokage joined him, lifting the music up to the heavens.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, full disclosure, I wanted to get this out ages ago (last month to be exact) but because I am a useless procrastinator, I wound up only finishing it today. So as an apology, you'll be getting two fics this month. This one and another that is a parody song which I will get up later this month. My apologies for making you wait so long because of my own laziness. 
> 
> This fic is using the broadway version of the opening song from Hunchback because it is intense and I love it! Also, I am thinking about turning this one into a full-fledged fic using the rest of the songs from the show but I admit I haven't heard the rest of them so I'm unsure since I would have to do a lot of planning for it and I would most likely not enjoy having to shift around so many characters. Don't get me wrong, I would love to do more fics using songs from Hunchback but it's still a lot of work and, as we have seen, I'm lazy as hell.
> 
> For what is probably the first time, I haven't actually needed to listen to the song once for this fic! So the count for this is a big fat 0! Go me!
> 
> You can always find me at SaintedStars on Tumblr and any and all comments, kudos or bookmarks are always appreciated.


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